Clay Aiken just posted an amazing letter at the Huffington Post.
With rising fuel and food prices, and drought, added to an already dire humanitarian situation, it seems that Mother Nature is kicking the people of Somalia while they are down.
Please go over and read the entire post. It is an intelligent plea for help.
On Saturday evening there was an important announcement posted at Clay Aiken’s Official Fan Club site. Clay, as an UNICEF Ambassador, is promoting the PSA for the Horn of Africa. Please stop by the OFC to read the announcement and, if you can, donate to help the children. Remember…$10.00 will feed a child for 10 Days!!
According to UNICEF:
A tragedy of epic proportions is unfolding in the Horn of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of children are facing death due to starvation. The disastrous combination of a paralyzing drought, skyrocketing food prices and conflict has left over 11 million people battling hunger to survive.
UNICEF estimates that 1.85 million are in dire need of urgent aid. In some regions one in every three children is severely malnourished, their lives at risk.
The total number of Somali refugees that have fled to Ethiopia and Kenya in recent weeks to escape starvation is estimated at more than half a million.
There are strict benchmarks that must be surpassed in order for famine status to be reached:
1. More than 30 percent of children must be suffering from acute malnutrition.
2. Two adults per 10,000 people must be dying of starvation each day.
3. 20 percent of the general population must consume less than 2,100 kilocalories of food each day.
According to the UNICEF site:
Since the beginning of July, UNICEF has delivered 1,300 metric tons of life saving supplies to some of the hardest hit areas in southern Somalia, including enough therapeutic supplies to treat over 66,000 children malnourished children.
In an effort to prevent the outbreak of disease, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and essential medicines including vaccines are being airlifted to support massive vaccination campaigns that will be conducted over the coming weeks.
In order to step up operations and reach the most vulnerable children in the Horn of Africa, UNICEF estimates it will need USD$100 million over the next six months.
“UNICEF is using every means possible to reach every child. There simply can be no compromise on the objective to keep children and their families alive,” said Elhadj As Sy, Regional Director for UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa. “Every life must count and we cannot afford to lose more lives to this crisis.”
So…as Clay Aiken fans, what can we do? The following is a list of easy things that we can all do to help.
1. Be sure and watch the UNICEF YouTube. It is important to get a large number of hits on the video. You can see it here or at the OFC…AND be sure to leave a comment. We want everyone to see this and realize that it is important to support this campaign.
2. Visit the AOL Music article featuring Clay and his role as the UNICEF ambassador who is heading up this campaign. At this site you can do lots of easy things. There is a small icon of an envelope. Click on it and you can e-mail the site to you friends. Why not let your friends know that you support UNICEF. I bet you could think of 10 people who should get the E-mail. Make sure you comment at the AOL site. AND…don’t forget to “like” the article. This helps keep the article at the top of Google…more people can then read and react.
3. If you can, donate some money to the $10 – 10 Days program. This can be done at the OFC.
4. Post this information at other sites that you visit…and don’t forget Facebook and Twitter. Maybe we can get it to trend. The more people that read about it, the more donations that will come in.
Have you any more ideas how we can support Clay Aiken, UNICEF and the kids on the Horn of Africa? We would love to hear any ideas.
The following is the link to the AOL/Music article. AOLMUSIC
The following YouTube is from UNICEF. Below that, I included a touching video from SueReu. Clay’s music is a wonderful background to this beautiful video.
OK…Wait a minute…This just has to be one of the greatest weeks if you are a fan of Clay Aiken.
So lets get going …there is so much going on!!
Let’s start with the most important post and topic.
On Friday, UNICEF partnered with AOL to post a compelling site for the emergency that is happening in Somalia. They asked Clay to be a part of the promotion since he spent time in Somalia for UNICEF.
Make sure you hit this important site and learn about $10 for 10 Days.
If you want to see Clay in the PR for UNICEF you need to let them know. Leave a positive comment that supports UNICEF and Clay as a spokesperson. A big thank-you to AOL for posting this important message.
Did you get an E-mail from the Official Fan Club today? If so, you already know:
Live Video Chat Announcement
07/22/11 at 1:45 PM by Vanessa
Hey folks,
We’re pleased to bring you the news you’ve all been waiting for: The time of Clay’s first live video chat exclusively for Fan Club members! Clay will be chatting live with you guys on Monday, August 1st at 8:30pm EST. The chat will run about an hour in length. Please be sure to visit clayaiken.com/chat and test out the chat in advance so you don’t run into any surprises on the day of the chat. You’ll need to be using the most updated versions of either Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome with the updated Java plug-in to ensure that the chat works on your browser.Also, be sure to visit the new campaign in the Campaigns section of the site, which allows you to submit questions for Clay beforehand that he may answer in the chat. You will also be able to ask him questions directly in the chat, and he will choose which ones to respond to.
For those of you who cannot make it to the chat this time around, we will be recording it for playback on the site so that you can watch it at a later time, or over and over again to your heart’s content.Happy chatting!
Since this was on the public part of the OFC, I assume it is OK to post this news. Have you posted a question yet?
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBTs. The magazine was established in 1967, and is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States.
This publication has not always been supportive of Clay Aiken. However, on Friday they posted two different articles about Clay that are positive. I hope you will read and then post a comment. Comments are important. They let the writer and the site know that Clay brings in hits. If there are few comments, Clay will not be at the top of the list of celebrities that are reviewed at the site.
The first is an article about Drop Dead Diva. Go to page 4 when you reach the site. ADVOCATE
Finally, an article called “Gay Teen In The South.” GAYTEEN
Michael A Gallagher writes for different publications in up-state New York. He had the opportunity to interview Clay about his appearance on Drop Dead Diva.
In a recent interview with StayFamous.Net, Aiken talked about his guest-starring role on the series and the message he hopes the story conveys to viewers.
You can see the entire interview at STAYFAMOUS .
AFTERELTON is another site that has not always supported Clay. However, on Friday, they ran an interesting article.
Drop Dead Diva Does Prom and Asks Lance Bass and Clay Aiken to Attend.
Posted by Mia Jones
The story of Constance McMillen‘s courage to stand up and fight for the right to go to her high school prom with her girlfriend is one that is near and dear to writers and readers alike here at AfterElton.com. Many of us have had to stand up to bullies in our lives, but not too many of us have had to be the David to the Goliath of an entire school administration and the town we live in.
Please visit the site to get the entire article. AfterElton
I am still thinking about the wonderful speech that Clay Aiken gave at the Key Club Convention. Clay is certainly a wonderful spokesperson for UNICEF and children all over the world.
We have been so lucky to see many wonderful pictures of the trips that Clay has taken in his role as Ambassador Aiken. I hope the pictures will remind you of what a excellent person Clay Aiken is.
Last year, on June 25th, Clay fans received the news that UNICEF Ambassador, Clay Aiken was in Somalia. Somalia is a country where conflict and hunger have created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Clay traveled to to Hargeisa, Gabiley and Baroma located in the northwest region of the country, known as the republic of Somaliland. The area is a relatively peaceful area that has declared itself independent but has not been recognized internationally.
Somalia has suffered relentless civil conflict since 1991 when the military dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled from his post. Some of the latest violence in the region has killed thousands and made over one million people homeless.
Clay, who was traveling on behalf of UNICEF, said of the region:
It’s the most dangerous place for a child to be. In the lower part of the country, southern part, I feel it’s a more desperate situation than any other place we’ve ever been.
According to UNICEF, Somalia is a country in which less than 25% of the population has access to basic health services, less than 30% attend primary school and only 29% have access to a safe water source. It is also a place where 98% of girls are circumcised and has amongst the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
Clay visited a camp for 1500 displaced families in Hargeisa. He met a young 11 year old boy who helped support his five siblings and his blind mother. He did this by collecting stones. He was able to save enough to pay for school which he attend each afternoon.
A visit to the Somaliland Cultural and Sports Center was also a part of Clay’s trip. It is an enclosed facility where the girls are able to learn about health, acquire life skills and play sports. It was rumored that Clay even played a bit of basketball with the girls.
Next on his list of visits was to the town of Boroma, where Clay saw how the town’s new water system was functioning. It was financed and built by UNICEF. Clay also visited maternal and child health clinics where nutritional feeding and immunizations are available.
When Clay returned from his trip, he said:
Now that I have seen Somalia for myself, I feel it is important for the American public to remember that the Somali people have the same dreams for their children that we do. The country is one of the most desperate in the world. Fortunately, UNICEF has always been there and continues to provide the support needed to make a difference. No other organization is more capable of making such a difference than UNICEF.
In the last year since Clay visited Somalia, the situation has become so much worse. The United Nations agency for children on Wednesday accused Somali militiamen of aggression and hostility against its aid workers and said they were putting over 40,000 lives at risk.
In a recent upsurge in violence, Al Shabaab Islamist militia took over of a UNICEF compound in Jowhar. This isthe organization’s biggest operational hub and is located north of the capital Mogadishu.
Since the beginning of May, over 200 people have been killed and more that 122,000 displaced by the fierce fighting in Mogadishu.
“While local authorities and UNICEF maintain cooperative relationships in many areas of Somalia, we are witnessing and experiencing an unprecedented level of aggression against humanitarian work in Jowhar, a situation that should cause a great deal of concern not only to the aid community but primarily to Somali communities,” said Hannan Sulieman, Acting UNICEF Representative to Somalia.
Highly valuable nutritional supplies meant to be distributed to 40,000 of the most vulnerable children under three years old to prevent malnutrition were looted by the militiamen, UNICEF said.
The aid agency said that its nutrition and sanitation projects risked total collapse if the Jowhar UNICEF compound remained occupied and inaccessible to UNICEF staff.
To this date, UNICEF said its compound remains occupied by militiamen and inaccessible to the UN agency’s staff.
Somehow, this unacceptable and irresponsible action must be stopped. The lives of Somali children and women are at great risk. The world needs to be informed of what is going on and insist that something be done.
Unfortunately, there was no available video of Clay’s trip to Somalia. Clay did two wonderful short videos while he was there. The first was an informational piece on netting for beds. The other video was about the Tap Project. Both of those videos are available on this site. Look under videos and then UNICEF.
Instead of repeating one of those videos, we are featuring a wonderful montage by SueReu that is about Clay and Somalia.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8hUlMCNQVw
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